CLAY COUNTY – As many view it as the “14th Colony,” Florida’s role in the formation of our great nation is often overlooked. When teaching about the American Revolution, most lessons focus on the 13 colonies located north of Florida, but there is so much more to the story.

The British colonies began with the British West Indies, ran through Florida and the 13 other colonies, and then continued into the British Canadian colonies of Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario and New Brunswick. St. Augustine, and Florida more broadly, was the center of the British Empire in the Western Hemisphere.

When James Grant of Ballindalloch, Scotland, disembarked his sloop (a one-masted sailboat), The Ferret, in St. Augustine, he did so as the first governor of British East Florida. The year was 1764, and Britain had just gained Florida from the Spanish. The border between West Florida and East Florida was the Apalachicola River.

Grant’s mission was to develop the colony into a profitable venture for the British Crown. The Crown was already dealing with some rumblings of unrest in the thirteen other colonies, and it desperately wanted to make Florida successful. Grant looked north to his friends in South Carolina for guidance on how to colonize East Florida. South Carolina was among the wealthiest of all the existing colonies, but it had taken about 70 years to reach that status. Grant, who had the strong backing of both Parliament and King George III, felt he could get Florida up and running in about five years. He succeeded, and East Florida turned a profit.

East Florida became a magnet for Loyalists from the other colonies, land speculators, merchants, tradesmen and the like. The economy was driven by agriculture, as vast swaths of land were made available through grants.

Such plantations surrounded Doctor’s Lake in Clay County. The main crop was indigo, which was worth its weight in gold. Timber and naval stores were a close second. Naval stores are resinous products derived from pine trees and other conifers, primarily including turpentine, rosin, and tar. Historically, they were used in shipbuilding to caulk seams, preserve ropes and produce pitch.

Due to Florida’s mild weather, several crops can be grown throughout the year. The British imported many, many slaves to the region to keep those plantations running. Loyalists in other states were starting to face social and financial repercussions, which is why they began to flee to Florida. They brought their wealth, experience and slaves with them, further enhancing East Florida.

Gov. Grant was able to hand-select specific, more favorable land grants for his friends in high places and gained favor with those who held the Crown’s purse strings. Grant often lobbied the King and Parliament members directly, without using the middleman provincial agent, as the other thirteen colonies usually had to use. East Florida did have a Crown agent on the payroll, however, named William Knox. He was, in his own right, very effective in getting funds for the “colony” and procuring military aid and provisions. Grant also dealt effectively with the Native Americans. He treated them as trading partners and made them his allies. He hammered out the Treaty of Picolata, wherein the Creeks and other tribes agreed to stay on the west side of the St. Johns River. The actual boundary line was further inland and ran straight through the Trail Ridge region of the western side of Clay County.

Grant’s style of leadership was different than most, but effective. It came down to this: Grant was in charge. His governor’s council consisted of his hand-picked men, some of whom were his friends and allies. Two such men were John Moultrie and William Drayton. Grant never had public meetings, as all his council meetings were conducted instead over a tabletop at lavish dinner parties held in his home. His French chef kept the Grant and his guests happy with culinary delights. Despite, or maybe because of, the 10 to 12 bottles of wine consumed those nights, problems were easily solved, laws were passed, and Grant remained in control. Governor Grant was like a sheriff, a peacemaker, a judge and a social worker, all rolled into one.

Then there was the attitude of East British Floridians. They were happy with the status quo. While the upper thirteen colonies might have had a beef with the Crown, East Floridians did not. British East Florida was thriving.

One such Loyalist was Henry Ferguson, who first resided in Georgia and South Carolina. He remained loyal to the Crown and was forced to escape to East Florida. Ferguson said, "By my industry and assistance of a few slaves ... I acquired a comfortable living." Fifty acres were cleared, fenced and planted by 20 slaves, who also constructed a new dwelling house, detached kitchen, slave housing, corn crib and other buildings that overlooked Doctors Lake and the St. Johns River. Ferguson said his property was brought "to a flourishing condition". He was situated on a "navigable river 160 miles into the heart of the country, convenient for rafting naval stores and country produce, to the most commodious best in the province.”

The Stamp Act of 1765 went over like a lead balloon with the thirteen colonies. “No taxation without representation!” was the outraged cry. Meanwhile, down in East Florida, the Stamp Act reaction was only a blip on the radar. The Sons of Liberty attempted to hinder the business of East Florida by interfering with cargo bound for Florida and tampering with the mail, but to no real effect. The Sons of Liberty were a grassroots group of instigators and provocateurs in colonial America who employed extreme forms of civil disobedience to intimidate Loyalists and outrage the British government. Despite their efforts, Grant reported that East Florida was in full compliance with the Act.

The members of the 13 colonies were beginning to resent East Florida. They didn’t like that their taxes were being spent on Florida instead of them. Florida and Britain had a symbiotic relationship: Florida earned money for the Crown, and the Crown spent money on Florida. The other colonies were taxed, and the Crown took and took, giving very little back.

In 1771, Grant had to return home to his beloved Highlands in Scotland. He had gout and a death in the family. Grant worried about leaving, as he knew the “colony” was very dependent on his leadership. He wrote to Will Hills, Lord Hillsborough (as in Hillsborough County), who was the British Secretary of State, "People are accustomed to me … but I am afraid of them trusting themselves.”

Sure enough, East Florida began to unravel. It wasn’t the colonists as much as it was the Revolutionary War. East Floridians saw the Continental Congress as rabble-rousers who posed a significant threat to an economy that was working in their favor. East Florida could feed itself, defend itself and produce profits, but once the Crown became preoccupied with the rebels, the glory days of East Florida were in the rear-view mirror.

When news of the signing of the Declaration of Independence reached St. Augustine on August 11, 1776, a large mob of Loyalists burned the effigies of John Hancock and Samuel Adams in the town square. British East Florida, of course, sent no representatives to the Continental Congress. St. Augustine soon became a base of operations from which the British dealt with the southern colonies. Troops and munitions were amassed there, and refugees from the other 13 colonies flooded the streets.

The war drained Britain's coffers until 1784, when Britain was forced to concede American independence. Having lost control of most of its colonies, Britain had little interest in retaining Florida. On Sept. 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris concluded the American Revolution, and Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States. Under a separate treaty, England ceded Florida back to Spanish control in exchange for the Bahamas, effectively ending British control of Florida.

This information can be found at Ancestry.com, Florida Historical Quarterly April 1976 East Florida As a Loyalist Haven by Linda Kay Williams, James Grant, British East Florida and the Impending Imperial Crisis 1764-1771 by Susan Swartz, Ancestry.com, Find A Grave.com, and in subject files and court records maintained locally at the Archives Center.

For more information about this topic or about anything related to Clay County history, don't hesitate to get in touch with Clay County Clerk of Court’s Historical Archives Division personnel at (904) 371-0027, or email staff at clayarchives@clayclerk.com.

The Archives Center is part of the Old Jail at the county’s Historic Triangle, 21 Gratio Place, Green Cove Springs, and is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., minus holidays. Stop by for a self-guided tour of the Old Jail or to seek research assistance from staff.